Category: Transportation

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) is tasked with improving mobility in Austin, Texas, and the suburbs that surround it. One of the big challenges in the area in regards to transportation is that much of the growth in the population is in the suburbs while the job growth is mostly in Austin. Getting people into and out of the city in an efficient manner is what the CTRMA is all about.

The Executive Director of the CTRMA, Mike Heiligenstein, has said that they have a number of mobility solutions. This sometimes means building a road, other times it means better incorporating technology into the transportation system, while at other times it means better mass transit solutions. He added that the heart of the mission at the CTRMA is to deliver innovative solutions to decrease traffic congestion and commute times.

The CTRMA has built a number of toll roads in the area, which includes Travis and Williamson counties. These have helped to greatly reduce road capacity in areas that have experienced rapid growth. They are also building MoPac Express Lanes which rely on variable tolling. Mike Heiligenstein has said that these lanes incorporate very sophisticated technology which monitors speeds and traffic patterns in order to keep these lanes operating optimally. However, this doesn’t mean his agency can entirely get rid of congestion, they can only mitigate it.Learn more : http://www.mystatesman.com/news/opinion/things-know-about-the-central-texas-regional-mobility-authority/HuPXTyFcN0TaD5rcsPXZqN/

In the future, the CTRMA will start making the roads themselves smarter. They will have fiber lines embedded in them so that upcoming cars can each talk to the road to find out about the best way of getting where the people in the car need to go. They will also be releasing a smartphone app that will incorporate the agency’s traffic monitoring system which will tell users the best routes to take to their destination, plus another app that will help people create carpooling opportunities.Learn more :

The CTRMA is a public agency that was founded in 2002. It has a seven-member Board of Directors which is made up of three officials from each of the counties plus Mike Heiligenstein overseeing the agency. They have been given the authority to put in place transportation systems including transit services, roads, seaports, and airports. In order to pay for their projects they can issue revenue bonds as well as charge tolls and taxes in order to pay off the bonds they issue.Learn more :